Wade Hampton

[major bill]

Is it true Wade Hampton was a renowned bear hunter? Did he really kill over 500 bears, killing 40 with a knife?

 

[diane]

I've read he killed 80 bears with a knife - don't know how many he shot!

 

[Patrick H]

Gee...what did he have against bears?!

 

[diane]

Gee...what did he have against bears?!

Think it was the challenge! He was from the aristocratic planter class and hunting was always a big thing with them. He loved the outdoors and the bigger the challenge the better he liked it. Bears are sure in that category!

 

[War Horse]

Hampton was a very large man. So large he yielded a broadsword from horseback. That requires a very powerful individual. If anyone could handle a bear with a knife it would be Hampton.

 

[Bruce Vail]

Bear hunter? You mean one of those old-fashioned Southern bear hunts where the guide tracks the animal and then drives it into an open clearing so the waiting 'hunter' can shoot it with a high-powered rifle?

 

[dlofting]

I have heard modern stories of people killing bears with a knife, mostly as a weapon of last resort. Killing 40-80 bears with a knife, by choice, sounds a bit far fetched to me, unless the bears were seriously wounded/disabled first. I've seen what a black bear can do to a garbage container and, very recently, to my fence.....I don't have anywhere near their strength or speed.

 

[Stony]

Wade was a bear of a man, so it's possible.

 

[bankerpapaw]

I read where the bear hunter would have the dogs keep the bear "occupied" and the hunter would come up behind the bear and then dispatch the bear with his knife. Too intense for me.

 

[Yankeedave]

wow.

 

[Greyfalcon]

Gee...what did he have against bears?!

An ill conceived childhood gift, perhaps.

 

[atlantis]

Doubt it was a grizzly you engage one of them with a knife, better have your funeral arrangements made.

 

[Patrick H]

Bear hunter? You mean one of those old-fashioned Southern bear hunts where the guide tracks the animal and then drives it into an open clearing so the waiting 'hunter' can shoot it with a high-powered rifle?

I just hope in Wade's day they didn't bait the bears and then assassinate them. YIKES! ....and you guys need to know that I have nothing against hunting per se. ...but I like the notion of fair chase. If Hampton engaged black bears with nothing more than a knife, he was a better man than I am, and that's for dang sure! I would never have the guts to do that...unless it was the bear or me. I will further guess that Hampton never went grizzly hunting.

 

[Tennessee_Mountainman]

Hampton was a very large man. So large he yielded a broadsword from horseback. That requires a very powerful individual. If anyone could handle a bear with a knife it would be Hampton.

When I think of someone scary, 6'1, 210 pounds, I also think of this guy: (look at the their faces! )

 

[diane]

When I think of someone scary, 6'1, 210 pounds, I also think of this guy: (look at the their faces! )

That Guy killed cougars! (But only if they were after his ma...)

I read where the bear hunter would have the dogs keep the bear "occupied" and the hunter would come up behind the bear and then dispatch the bear with his knife. Too intense for me.

Actually, Wade Hampton did use bear dogs - they would distract the bear and he'd get it then. Yes...there would definitely be an adrenaline rush involved!

 

[diane]

This is a thread where Wade Hampton's bears are discussed:

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/forrests-tally.69578/

 

[Greyfalcon]

Actually, Wade Hampton did use bear dogs - they would distract the bear and he'd get it then.

The only two ways that black bears are hunted even today that I know of, are either baiting them or using scent dogs.

 

[E_just_E]

This is a tall tale It was actually published in a former President's book (Teddy Roosevelt's) here. Page 34 is the black bear with the knife bit. Page 204 is Hampton hunting wolf. Of course, both were related to Roosevelt by his friend Hampton...

Oh the irony about Teddy Roosevelt discussing Teddy bear hunting. With a knife...

 

[MaryDee]

The only two ways that black bears are hunted even today that I know of, are either baiting them or using scent dogs.

Both methods are illegal out here on the West Coast. It's hunter on foot or horseback with rifle.

 

[Greyfalcon]

Both methods are illegal out here on the West Coast. It's hunter on foot or horseback with rifle.

True that. A few states on the east coast have similar bear hunting restrictions. In the majority of states it's either baiting, hounding, or both. IMHO, as an avid and long time hunter, "fair chase" without hounds is an exceedingly difficult method of taking a bear, unless you are with an experienced guide who knows exactly where they are.